BRENTWOOD, TN – Dickson County (28-5) junior KK Curtis had taken seven shots in the R6AAA Championship Game against Ravenwood (17-12) on Wednesday, and she had missed them all.

Then, with five seconds left on the clock, Curtis put one up and in off the backboard to give Dickson County a 44-43 win, from the exact same spot where she hit the game-winning bucket on Monday night against Page.

“It’s just convenient because it’s the only basket she had all night” said Dickson County coach Erin Webb.

After Curtis’ bucket, Ravenwood took a timeout to prepare for the inbound with 4.3 seconds to play. Dickson County deployed a full-court press, and Ryann Roberts came away with a steal on the inbound, helped out by teammate Ashley Jackson’s pressure. Dickson County claimed the R6AAA title with a 44-43 victory.

It was a defensive battle throughout, and the Lady Cougars could not buy a bucket in the opening quarter, shooting 1-10 from the floor to trail 10-3 at the start of the second. Webb, after having some time to soak in the victory, was blown away at the full stats during the postgame press conference.

“I didn’t realize how poorly we shot the ball until this paper was handed to me” said Webb, “I’m still looking at this paper not sure how we did overcome it if I’m just being honest.”

Dickson County shot 11-of-42 from the floor in Wednesday night’s game, compared to Ravenwood’s 16-of-43. The Lady Raptors also out-rebounded the Lady Cougars 34-29. The ultimate difference? Free throws.

“To all the coaches out there telling their kids that free throws win ball games, I’ve got proof of it right here” continued Webb.

Dickson County shot 20-of-25 from the foul line, while Ravenwood was 11-of-15, including a crucial miss from senior Taya Lee that kept it at a one-point difference in the final seconds, allowing Curtis’ lone basket to win the game.

Dickson County fans were out in full force on Wednesday. (Photo: Charles Pulliam/Williamson Herald)

Dickson County picked up in the second quarter, outscoring Ravenwood 18-10, and taking a 21-20 lead into halftime. However, at the start of the third quarter, it was another slow start. The Lady Cougars missed all 10 of their field goal attempts in that period, but hit five free throws to enter the fourth quarter trailing 30-26.

The fourth quarter was more of the same, as Ravenwood took their biggest lead of the night, 34-26 with seven minutes to play.

Suddenly, Dickson County flipped a switch, and fired off a 10-0 run to take a 36-34 lead. With just over two minutes left, Ravenwood leading scorer and UAB commit Jazmyn Harmon picked up her fifth foul, and left the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

However, sophomore point guard Lexi Erickson picked up the slack, driving to the basket and converting all six of her free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to give Ravenwood a 42-39 with 45 seconds left.

“When Jaz fouled out, everyone was kind of down, I mean she’s our leading scorer” said Erickson, “being a captain, being a leader on the floor I had to do something.

“I just had to drive in and hopefully get some free throws.”

After both teams traded turnovers, Dickson County had the ball with 30 seconds left, and senior Ryann Roberts nailed her first three-pointer of the game after missing on five attempts to tie things up at 42.

“Ryann is the kind of kid that thrives more off of what her teammates do than what she does about herself” said Webb.

“You can tell that because at the end of the game when we needed her, she was able to step up and knock one down.”

After the Roberts triple, Taya Lee hit one of two free throws on the other end for Ravenwood, and the Curtis bucket in the waning seconds gave Dickson County its fourth R6AAA crown.

Three Lady Cougars earned all-tournament honors in KK Curtis, Olivia Rinehart, and Raegan Purvine. Purvine was also named the tournament MVP, as the Freed-Hardeman signee led Dickson County with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting, and 7 rebounds on Wednesday.

Not only did Purvine win the individual award, but she and fellow senior Ryann Roberts will have a chance to play at Dickson County High School one more time, as the win ensured Dickson County will host the sectional game on Saturday.

“It means a lot” said Purvine, “especially for our fans, because they have all traveled so far so it’s just nice to have one more home game and they can all be there, we can pack the gym.”

“There’s no place to play like The Hill” added Webb.

Dickson County will host the Mt. Juliet Lady Golden Bears on Saturday at 7pm, for a chance to qualify for the state tournament in Murfreesboro.